Afghanistan sets July 7, 2018 for parliamentary elections

KABUL, Afghanistan – Despite relentless insurgent attacks, Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission is announcing that parliamentary polls will be held in the war-torn country on July 7, 2018, almost three years late.

The commission announced the date Thursday. The vote will elect representatives to the 249 seats in the lower house of parliament. Originally scheduled to be held in 2015, rampant insecurity caused the long delay.

Elections have been tumultuous in Afghanistan and in the 2014 presidential elections, a clear winner was never established. Instead the United States brokered a compromise in which the two main candidates were put in power — Ashraf Ghani as president and Abdullah Abdullah as Chief Executive.

However the setup has been unwieldy and animosities and power struggles have hampered attempts at good governance.